Final Warning! Take God's Word Seriously
I’m currently reading the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible that is the written text from the scrolls found at Qumran, Wadi Murabba’at, Aahal Hever, Masada and Wadi Seiyal. And I’m comparing it to text from the Masretic text (the traditional Hebrew Bible), the Samaritan Pentateuch (the edition of the Hebrew Bible used by Samaritan) and the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible).I find by comparing this Bible to my Jerusalem Bible there are occasional spots where the translator either didn’t know the correct word to use because there was no word to translate from or to on language to another, so I’m given both and can interpret for myself what God was saying to and through these ancient peoples.
For example Exodus 7: 1through 3:
I’ll leave blank the spots where the Qumran scroll has missing text.
Q Version EX 7:1-3 (1)”And_______said to Moses, “See I have made you as a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be__________. (2) You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to ______________ the children of Isr______. (3) And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, _________ my ______ ns _____my wonders in the la__ d of Egypt.”
Note: The Jerusalem Bible is a complete translation of The Holy Bible from the Peshitta, the authorized Bible of the Church of the East, the translation of the Old and New Testaments into English of all the Christians who have used Syriac as their language of prayer and worship for many centuries. Appropriately based on the Greek Septuagint of the Old Testament and on the Latin Bible of Jerome, which also includes the Aramaic translation used by Christians from the earliest times.
The Jerusalem version of EX 7:1-3 (1) And the Lord said to Moses, See I have made you a god to Pharaoh ((1) given you power over Pharaoh) and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. (2) You shall speak all that I command you; and your brother shall speak to Pharaoh that he send the children of Israel out of his land. (3) And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.”
Now there are only two places in these verses that show any differences, but my interpretation is this: Notice in the Qumran version (1) I have made you as a God to Pharaoh; and in the Jerusalem version. (1) See I have made you a god to Pharaoh ( (1) given you power over Pharaoh).
First: When God is capitalized it means The God, The One and only God. So this verse from the Qumran version is saying __________ (Something or Someone; the unknown that has the power to give power) has made Moses the same as the One and Only God to Pharaoh.
Yet the modern translations/translators have changed this text to mean: God has made Moses a lesser god to Pharaoh and even give explanation in the footnote of giving Moses power over Pharaoh.
Does this mean they have changed the text? Put in their personal interpretive meanings? Or was this simply a human error when writing? They both give Moses power over Pharaoh but to what degree? That is where we have to get involved for ourselves.
Just suppose the Mighty Spirit of God, The Creator God, that One and Only God gave Moses equal power to Himself (and I use the male gender only because I don’t know if God has a sex. This is simply a throwback of when I was taught English and I’m comfortable with it; if you aren’t put whatever sex you prefer in here; suit yourself, for now I’m using the male gender.) So this All Powerful God gives equal power to Moses.
Why wouldn’t Moses’ words be all powerful? Why would Moses need anyone to speak to Pharaoh for him? Why wouldn’t Pharaoh have to do what Moses said, if he was a God over Pharaoh? I think that is probably why translators changed the word God to god and added the footnote. Maybe something was lost in history that would explain the God to Pharaoh.
Knowing the beliefs of the Egyptians, perhaps Moses was considered a higher god than Pharaoh at that time, so to show that, the word was capitalized.
It is interesting though that rarely do I find any variations in the Bible. Which proves to me, all the scribes who have written the inspired word of God from ancient times to today take God’s words very seriously.
This is probably due to these final verses in the Bible.
Revelations 22: 18-21
“I testify to every man who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book (19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his portion from the tree of life and from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. (20) He who testifies these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen Come, Lord Jesus. (21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, all you holy ones. Amen.
posted by Jan myrz @ 12:00 PM
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